Sweet Spanish Treats That Transcend the Festive Season

Come the winter festivities, sweet-toothed Spaniards are spoilt for choice. There’s an array of delectables on offer, from flaky-based pastries to buttery soft cakes, each made using age-old recipes and ingredients sourced from Spain’s fertile land, which yields some of the finest produce on the planet.

Here are some of the country’s most popular festive delicacies. These Spanish sweets are perfect for parties and gatherings for any celebration. Yet, with such incredible flavors and textures, it would be a shame not to enjoy them throughout the year.

Turrón

Spain’s festive favorite holds a special place in the culture. The specialist Marcona almonds, known for their exceptional taste and texture, form the main ingredient, providing the smooth texture and intensely nutty flavour. This is sweetened by high-quality locally-sourced honey, which is in plentiful supply given that Spain produces some of the finest honey in the whole of Europe. The combination of these two exceptional products is the key to the appeal of Spain’s beloved sweet treat. 

There are two main types – Turrón de Jijona, which is smooth and soft, uses ground Marcona almonds and Extra Virgin Olive Oil to create its texture; and Turrón de Alicante, which uses whole Marcona almonds and is hard and crunchy.

Spanish turrón usually comes in a rectangular tablet-shaped form, typically cut into slices and arranged on plates for people to snack on during the festive period. Yet it’s far from just a Holiday Season staple. Thanks to its simple, natural ingredients of almonds, honey and egg whites, providing protein, fibre, and healthy fats, turrón makes for a healthier alternative sweet snack beyond the festive season. 

Moreover, there are also more and more online retailers such as Despaña, La Despensa, and Mercado Central offering snack-style bites, thin slices, and smaller coated pieces, incorporating innovative blends of ingredients for all-round consumption, leading to increased global popularity for this beloved Spanish snack. 

Polvorones

These small round cakes are hugely popular in Andalusia, but you’ll also find families enjoying them all throughout Spain during the winter period. Ingredients are simple yet deliciously effective –  flour, lard, sugar, lightly toasted almonds and sesame seeds, kneaded together with fragrant spices such as cinnamon and vanilla, then baked in a very hot oven.

The main appeal of polvorones is their texture – soft, dense and very crumbly – hence the name, which comes from the Spanish polvo, meaning powder or dust.

Best accompanied with a dessert wine such as DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry or a Moscatel, you can buy polvorones through the Casa Vicens online store.

Hojaldrinas

Another classic Christmas sweet from Andalusia, Hojaldrina’s origins lie in the town of Alcaudete in the province of Jaén. Hojaldrinas (pronounced oh-hall-dree-nahs) feature flour, lard, sugar, white wine and orange aroma, mixed together into a dough, then folded over to form layers, before being dusted with icing sugar.

The layers of puff pastry create a pleasant flaky texture, while the subtle fragrance of wine and orange evokes a sense of the countryside with every bite. Stacked on a plate, these little sweets look very pretty and wintery. But, as they’re so easy to make and the ingredients are very simple, they can be enjoyed all year round.

Mantecados

Spain’s beloved almond shortbread has a compact, dense texture and a buttery, nutty flavor. During the festive season, you’ll often find trays teeming with mantecados in Spanish homes, shared among family and friends at parties and gatherings. Still, these versatile sweets can and should be enjoyed all year round. They’re very easy to make

Said to have been invented by nuns in Estepa, in the province of Seville, mantecados are a symbol of Spain’s tradition of homemade baking and use of high-quality, local ingredients. 

The dough is made from flour, lard, sugar, and Spanish almonds, with lemon zest, cinnamon, and vanilla essence often added. The dough is then cut into small round or square shapes, then baked until lightly golden. There are variations, including chocolate, lemon, cinnamon, and coconut.

Alfajores de Medina

This thick and chewy, cigar-shaped sweet is one of Spain’s oldest and most traditional. Said to be the inspiration for churros, the long, thin donut-style dessert dipped into chocolate, these lightly spiced sweets have Arabic roots, with a history that stretches back over 500 years. These inspired the popular type of alfajores that you’ll find all throughout Latin America, which are typically made using dulce de leche.

Alfajores are made with a paste of almonds, walnuts, pure honey, breadcrumbs, and spices such as cinnamon, clove, sesame, and star anise. The ingredients bind together, and the alfajores are formed into a croqueta-style shape, before being coated in powdered sugar and left to set.

These delicacies are very easy to make and, once tasted, impossible to forget. This makes them an ideal treat to make at home. But you can also buy alfajores at La Tienda.

Besides buying each of these Spanish sweets online, you can also look for them at your local Spanish market or grocery store. And don’t forget – while they are particularly popular in Spain during the Holiday Season, all five should be enjoyed all year round. They are wonderfully tasty, free from preservatives, and truly Made of Spain!